Remove References To Survivor's Identity In Tarun Tejpal Verdict: Bombay High Court

A vacation bench of Justice S C Gupte was hearing an appeal filed by the Goa government, challenging the May 21 judgement passed by sessions judge Kshama Joshi acquitting Tarun Tejpal in the case.

The Goa bench of the Bombay High Court on Thursday directed a sessions court, which recently acquitted journalist Tarun Tejpal in a 2013 rape case, to redact all references in its judgement that disclose the survivor's identity, before uploading it on the court's website. A vacation bench of Justice S C Gupte was hearing an appeal filed by the Goa government, challenging the May 21 judgement passed by sessions judge Kshama Joshi acquitting Tarun Tejpal in the case. Tarun Tejpal, former editor-in-chief of Tehelka, was accused of sexually assaulting his then-colleague in the lift of a five-star hotel in Goa in 2013 while they were attending an event. The sessions court while acquitting Tarun Tejpal questioned the survivor's conduct, holding that she did not exhibit any kind of "normative behaviour" such as trauma and shock which a victim of sexual assault might plausibly show.